What are the most common workplace litigation issues facing business owners?

Litigation has the potential to be time consuming and costly. That's why most business owners worry about the potential for litigation to arise when they are running their business. The most common workplace litigation issues facing business owners include:

1. Harassment and discrimination

Any type of harassing behavior can have a serious negative impact on your business. It's important to conduct swift investigations into any complaint of harassment or discrimination in the workplace. Any employee found to have harassed another party should be fired or disciplined appropriately. It's important that employees feel safe in their work environment. A victim of harassment who was dismissed or not taken seriously could bring negative press to your business and destroy your long-built reputation.

2. Disputes with customers

Disagreements with customers can turn into major legal disputes if they are not handled promptly and professionally. If a customer is unhappy with the quality of your products or services and they feel that they were cheated out of their money they could file a class action lawsuit against your company and tarnish your brand.

3. Employees taking trade secrets with them

Businesses that don't have employees sign contracts against stealing trade secrets or working with competitors may lose valuable information when their employees leave. These employees could take this secret information and to competitors. It could not only damage their company but it could help their competitors out perform them.

How can employers protect themselves?

The primary way an employer or business owner can protect themselves, their business, and their reputation is by hiring an experienced attorney to draft and negotiate all their contracts.